I finally made a trip to Lancaster, PA last week :D
Since my quilting ladies talk about Lancaster often, I was always curious about it as a quilter and was interested in Amish people.
I was kind of shocked to see the area was very commercialized. It was completely for tourist... I felt sorry for Amish people...
Most of shops were antiques and quiltings. There were many fabric shops.
This quilt was being sold at $84. The price tag said it was made in 19 century. Some damages were on it; I have no idea if the price is reasonable or not. I loved the red piece of fabric anyway :)
I found a funny sign that is for a front of house. It meant that "Don't let your dog poop in front of my home!!" though..., this dog has poop hanging down from his xxxxx.
I saw many of horse cargo here and there since Amish people use horses for transportation.
Common sceneries in Lancaster. Someone told me that men in basic color shirt like white, black, gray, working in field with horses and cows are Amish people.
Another tourist spot. I saw many touring buses.
The ice cream from this small shop was delicious :D
I sew some Amish people working in the fabric store I visited. I wasn't sure if they were real Amish because in Japan Miko (a woman who serves God) are hired from public as part time jobs when shrines are very busy that is around new years - many people go to shrines or temples to make a wish and buy some Omamori (charms to bring good fortune and expel evil) around that time; they get very busy. I thought the girls might be working as part time jobs in Amish costume at this point. Later, I learned they were real Amish.
I was very interested in fabric shops, but was more interested in Amish people. I wanted to learn some history of them and how they live. The Amish museum found on the Internet was turned to be a gift shop. The information online was too old, I guess. They even had a discount ticket on their website though.
So, looked for somewhere I can learn about Amish and found "The Amish Village."
There was one model house of Amish. One girl explained tourists including me about life of Amish.
They don't use anything connected to outside and inside such as telephone and electricity. They think home (inside) is a safe place, but outside is evil world; so, they don't want to connect inside and outside. They have running water in home, but water is from a well, not city water. Propane gas is used for refrigerators, rumps.
The girl told us that Amish in Lancaster area is not strict with daily rules in religious reason, but who lives in Ohio and Northern area of PA. She told us that she has seen many times that Lancaster Amish come to the town and eating hamburgers or other fast foods - they don't have any diet restrictions. She also said they sometimes buy alcohol and drinking at a bar, although alcohol is prohibited.
When they turn 18 years old, they are allowed to experience outer world for a year; and, at age of 20, they have to choose if they live in the village for whole life or live in outer world like us. I heard 93% of Amish choose to live in the village.
Other photos from the Amish Village.
And, school.
Children between 7 to 15 learn together in one room.
The front chairs were small because they were for small children, and the back chairs were large which are for older children. Their education is stopped at 8th grade, which means no high school.
I actually have the same type of this chair and a desk combination. I found it in local that someone abandoned it...
I love the atmosphere of them.
I anyway had a GREAT experience there. It was a wonderful break before my summer class begins :D